Posted on 09/08/2025 8:57:24 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Tom Shipley of Brewer & Shipley, the duo best known for the 1971 Top 10 hit "One Toke Over the Line," has died of unspecified causes at the age of 84.
The New York Times confirmed the news with Shipley's son Marc, who said his father died on Aug. 24 at a hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Shipley's duo partner Mike Brewer died in 2024.
The band's biggest hit, which humorously chronicles a real-life incident when Shipley indulged in a bit too much marijuana, wasn't initially intended for release.
"'One Toke Over the Line' was a song we wrote to amuse ourselves one night, trying to come up with something to make our friends laugh. The first time we played Carnegie Hall, we opened for Melanie and we did quite well; we got several encores and we ran out of songs," Shipley's partner Brewer told UCR in 2016.
"So we said, "Okay, let's do that new song.' The president of the record company we were with at the time came backstage and he said, 'Oh, you gotta record that for the album.' Which kind of surprised us, because like I said, we didn't take it real seriously."
Released on the duo's fourth album Tarkio, "One Toke Over the Line" became far and away their biggest hit. But it also put them in the government's crosshairs.
"We made Nixon's 'hate list,' which we held as a badge of honor and still do to this day, and the Vice President, Spiro Agnew, named us personally on national TV one night as "subversives to America's youth," Brewer recalled. "I mean, you can't buy that kind of publicity."
Rest In Peace, Tom.
RIP Tom Shipley. Condolences to family and friends.
Used to enjoy that song before I cleaned up my act.
I like the story of how the song showed up on the Lawrence Welk show.
The Lawrence Welk Version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8tdmaEhMHE&list=RDt8tdmaEhMHE&start_radio=1
How did it?
All the stoners in Junior High knew what he was talking about in that song, LOL!
My takeaway? Always have a book with you so you don’t have to SMOKE to pass the time while waitin’ for the train to take you home to Sweet Mary. ;)
Does sweet Mary = marijuana?
One Toke Over The Line performed by Lawrence Welk 1971. Amazing!
https://bestclassicbands.com/brewer-shipley-lawrence-welk-8-17-18/!
No, I think she was a girl he missed. But, who knows with stoners? ;)
“We can’t stop here! This is bat country!” :P
I have a “happy songs” playlist and this is one of my top ten. Just makes me smile every time I hear it.
I heard the 2 of them being interviewed once. They didn’t make any money off the song. “Everyone had their hands in it”. Tough business.
One of the great hippy pop-rock tunes of all time.
How about old age? How bout the 84 year old died a natural death. He was probly a dope fiend.
Who do you love?
I hope it's me.
I've been changin,'
As you can plainly see.
It’s a “Modern Spiritual”.
Saw them a couple of times in the early 70’s at the Cellar Door in DC.
Omg, that’s hilarious. I never knew about that.
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